Barley And Madeline

 The hat pattern is Barley by Tin Can Knits.  It is a great free pattern.  It is a bit slouchy and fits my head nicely which is what I love in a hat right now.  I highly recommend the pattern and I see myself knitting a few more of these.

The yarn I purchased a couple of years back!  2011!  haha!  A yarn has a time and a pattern, some take longer to figure out.  The yarn is Madeline Tosh 80/10/10 MCN Worsted, colourway Toulouse- Lautrec.  It is a stunning yarn and I completely understand, Madeline Tosh's popularity.

Actually, after I made this hat, I stuck it in my bag and it fell out.  I couldn't find it anywhere.  I went out for a walk with Lexi (the regal part beagle above) and she stopped and I couldn't budge her.  I noticed what she was sniffing, it was my hat!  I dropped it on my road on the way to the supermarket.  It must of smelt like me.  I was delighted.  Even the story of its recovery makes the hat more adored.

I made another hat, Cocoon, I had a look for it today.  Hopefully, I will find it.  I guess due to Ireland's changeable weather has me in a habit of taking hats off and tossing it wherever.  It's another free pattern that I love.  I didn't even get a photo of the Cocoon hat.  I knitted the Cocoon hat with leftovers of my grey and yellow Drops Nepal sweater.
I have another one casted on in blue.  I like to order slightly too much yarn then use the leftovers to make hats and mittens.  I like having a good collection because in Ireland, you can get rained on each time and nothing is nicer than a warm, dry hat!

Knitting Sweaters for the Sun

The weather here in Ireland has been lovely.  One must always make time and appreciate the good weather whilst we have it.  (It can rain a lot here in Ireland, in case you never heard.)  Also one should make hay while the sun shines, so I killed two birds with one stone and sat outside in the sun and drew in my notebook.

Last summer was lovely and not typical Irish weather.  It was funny because I was too warm for most of my sweaters.  When the evenings got cooler, I was too warm for my mostly worsted/Aran weight wardrobe of sweaters/jumpers.  I am now trying to knit more 4 ply/sock yarn weight sweaters and cardigans to wear when the evenings get cooler. 

As per usual, I have many sweaters on the go.

This is my mon-petit-gilet-raye.  I already have another one on the go and have a few other colour combinations planned for the next one(s).  I want to make the neckline a bit smaller.  I didn't bother with the waist shaping because I don't like fitted things around my waist. 

 I'm putting more prints in my Ellie and Ada Etsy shop.  I am also working on new prints. This is Majorie Blue.  It is available in the shop!